My sister is 3.5 years old and still babbles

[heisking]

Sibling here. Born in Iraq, where medical facilities are not exactly top notch (the baby). Then came to Australia from April 2022 to August 2022 and then again from June 2023 to November 2023.

She has limited facial features that resemble down syndrome. Initially, the doctor informed us she had a genetic condition. Then several doctors after told us either she was fine or had it very light. In Australia, people walking by often tell us that she is the "most beautiful girl they have ever seen" so it really goes unnoticed. But for instance we have to tell her to put her tongue in, but besides that, she's a cute toddler/baby.

The only concern is she doesn't speak. She says mama, what, baba, yeah, abb (her weird word for "animal"), what, etc. Maybe it is because she speaks half English, half Arabic and that messed her up? We are currently trying to get her with speech pathologists, public or private.

She has had delays with walking, sitting, most things, but they were all quickly solved. But this? I've spent hours telling her to make basic words in both languages that she can do, but then how on Earth would she even get to making complex sentences? Or any sentences?

We did a genetic test to try figure out the cause. Might be mosaic down syndrome or a rarer genetic syndrome. Idk. need help with this.

what is your story?

Edit: Might be worth noting that I actually could not speak until I was the age of 5. Nobody could understand me, except my brother, who would translate to my parents.

 

[heroebal]

@heisking For sure the next steps is to get her to a speech pathologist but I would also continue to push for a diagnosis of her overall condition as that could help indicate the speech struggles.

My son has a speech disorder called Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). We have been doing private speech therapy for several years and in those years I have learned there are quite a number of different speech delays and disorders. Early intervention is key and finding the right pathologist.

 

[athanasius88]

@heroebal I have the same disorder as your son! I still struggle with some words & sounds, which is normal- was also in speech therapy for years.

 

[heroebal]

@athanasius88 Really? Do you mind me asking how old you are and if there was anything you wish your parents had done or understood better about you when you were little.

My son is 6 and making pretty impressive progress with his speech these days. He does also seem to have a bit of a gross motor delay too, or maybe some issues with coordination. Not enough that you notice it right away but if he’s running around with other kids his age it’s clear there’s a bit of a difference.

 

[athanasius88]

@heroebal I was in speech therapy for 6 years and am 21. I still get some sounds mixed up or something- I have adhd and talk really fast (trust me they tried to break that habit), so that’s probably part of it.

Mostly mess up with pronunciation and my spelling abilities have also been effected since my apraxia wasn’t caught early on (basically couldn’t sound things out like other kids). Does he have any other disorders?

 

[heroebal]

@athanasius88 His apraxia was caught really early on because he was basically not talking still at 2.5. He had a working diagnosis of CAS for almost a year because he wasn’t saying enough to hit the marks for apraxia. So since 3 he’s been working with a speech therapist who specializes in these types of more severe disorders. The progress he’s made in the past 3 years is very impressive considering how severe his CAS was.

As far as we know he does not. I did suspect adhd at times so we are monitoring for that. There is also something called Neurofibromitosis 1 (NF1) that we are keeping an eye on too. His apraxia is considered idiopathic meaning there is no known cause.

Was there a cause to yours and was it missed because you were saying things mostly correct? Did you have any fine motor is gross motor delays?

 

[athanasius88]

@heroebal I always struggled abit, but did well enough to be understood most of the time. There were no programs for speech therapy either til I moved in 3rd grade
There is no known cause for me, I was likely born that way or somehow adhd resulted in it.

I’m not sure on the delays part of things, I don’t remember my mom mentioning any?

 

[ivorydrops]

@heisking I don’t have a story as such but the language delay is not likely to be because she’s being brought up bilingual - that can result in a delay of a few months but nothing as severe as you are describing.

Without the results of the genetic test it’s impossible to know what’s going on. But either way, a specialist like a speech therapist will be very valuable in helping her to catch up, whatever the problem is, so you need to continue to pursue that angle.

 

[heisking]

@ivorydrops I thought so. Thanks for the advice.

 

[davidbooth]

@heisking Speech therapy might help her a lot.

My friend’s oldest daughter was having similar speech difficulties at that age and even later. They had primarily spoken Arabic around and with her, but she only speaks English beyond a few phrases these days.

She is a teenager now and is completely average (except that she is a fantastic artist.)

 

[bachjazz]

@heisking You’re right to be concerned. Nobody here is going to be able to tell you what exactly she needs but yes pursue and push for her. You sound like a great big brother!

 

[bran230]

@heisking She's going to be who she is and you need to be ok with that. If she has down syndrome of any variety then you need to make peace with it. You can't change that. And she doesn't need to be changed. She is who she's supposed to be. Your job is to provide love and acceptance and be an older sibling.

 

[reynak]

@heisking Did they mention any other tests she can take to narrow down the genetic issue for certain? Because that's what I would prioritize, and then speech therapy, too.

 

[hopeseeker1234]

@heisking My son has speech delay and diagnosed with mild autism. I spoke English and my husband spoke Turkish. We were advised from psychiatrist, therapists and pediatricians to speak one language only so his receptive language improves. Once receptive improves, expressive language follows. After a year, it has. I stopped counting words after 200.

My son doesn't have classic traits associated with autism but his lack of speech flagged him for autism here in Turkey at 3.5yrs old and is receiving therapy from the Governments early intervention program.

He is now 3yr 8months, we speak Turkish but he watches YouTube kids and has picked up English words, ABC's and singing songs from watching videos in English.

Speak to your pediatrician and see if your country has early intervention programs with speech therapy to help your sister

 

[athanasius88]

@heisking There’s a 1st grader in our apartments that is extremely delayed- the only thing you can do is work on it through speech therapy. I have speech apraxia and worked on it for years, it’s not ‘fixed’. I’ll always struggle with some things but that’s normal.